Aircraft brake



Mwh y wsfi L. J. TETLOW zmws AIRCRAFT BRAKE Filed. Dec. 29, 1932 Patented Mar. 10, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AIRCRAFT BRAKE Lewis J. Tetlow, Holyoke, Mass.

Application December 29, 1932, Serial No. 649,410

12 Claims. (01. 244--29) This invention relates to brakes for aircraft nism (not shown) and connected at the other and especially to brakes of the type attached to end to a bracket ll on the trailing section t2 the wings of airplanes. of the vane. The cable is threaded through the The main object is to provide a brake of necessary pulleys such as It properly located in 5 greater efficiency than those that have been used the wing structure. It will be seen that a pull heretofore. In particular the object of the inon the cable It first draws section I2 from the vention is to provide a brake or vane having wing surface and about the axis l3, this movea variable broken surface whereby the braking ment about the axis is limited by the adjustable force may be applied to the airplane with 2. stops l9 and a further pull on the cable draws 19 minimum of effort. the second section II from the wing surface 10 One of the best brakes used on airplanes is the along with the section l2 thus forming a pocket type consisting of a vane lying in the under under the wing. When more than two sections surface of the wing and hinged along the forare used, as in Figure 3, additional stops 253 will ward edge with its free edge lying substantially be provided on the middle sections.

flush with the trailing edge of the wing. I have The relative depths of the sections is prefer- 15 discovered that the braking effect of such a vane ably but not necessarily that illustrated where can be increased greatly by constructing it in the section hinged to the plane is the deepest two or more articulated parts and providing and the trailing section is the shallowest. Also means for consecutively turning these parts into the relative areas of the wing and brake may the wind stream as desired. This arrangement be any ratio desired it being preferred however 20 has another advantage in that it is much easier to have the area of the brake vane about oneoperated than the old type single piece vane. fourth the area of the Wing. In most cases the An additional object of my invention is to proratio of areas will be determined by the type of vide adjustable means for determining the maxiaircraft and the braking speed desired. One

.5 mum angle of the braking surfaces thereby to method of changing the ratio of areas is shown accommodate the brake to various airplane, in Figure 4 in which the trailing section is speeds, weather condition, etc. shown as being perforated; by perforating the In the drawing:- section the braking area of the brake is reduced Figure 1 is a bottom P V w Of a w ns on without reducing the effective length of the vane.

go which my improved braking means is attached. What I claim is:

Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1. 1. In a device of the character described, the Figure 3 shows a modification. combination with an airplane wing of a vane Figure 4 is a further modification. hinged to lie along one horizontal surface of Al h h my n w r ke m y be u d up n said wing, a second vane hinged to the free end any surface of any type of air craft, I have of said first vane, means for moving the vanes 35 shown it in Figure 1 as applied to the under into baffle position and means for limiting the surface of the wi g t) Of an irplane. The angular relation of the second vane to the first brake consists of at least two sections H and I2 vane as, the vanes are moved into bafiie 0r brakhinged to each other at l3 and to the wing at ing position.

[4 so that the trailing edge of section l2 lies 2. The device of claim 1 in which the means 40 substantially along the corresponding edge of the for limiting the angular relation of the vanes wing; although shown as piano hinges the is adjustable, joints l3 and 14 may be of y p ed fo 3. The device of claim 1 including a third ex mpl a smooth joint is m by he use of vane and adjustable means between the second some flexible material such as fabric or leather. and third vanes for limiting the angular rela- AS show e brake is preferably p d from tion of the second and third vanes independently the free end i l of the Wing in order that it of the limiting means between the first and shall not interfere with the aileron l5 and also s ond vanes. to avoid putting too much stress on the wing 4, The device of claim 1 in which the v ne o spars. However its exact location will be deare of the same width and the first vane is 5 termined to a great extent by the design of the deeper than the second vane. craft on the wings of which it is to be applied. 5. The device of claim 1 in which the first he bra Operating mechanism ay b of vane is centrally positioned on the wing and ny ype desired but I prefer o use a cable I5 the total depth of the vanes is approximately 5 connected at one end to an operating mechatwo-thirds of the depth of the wing.

6. The device of claim 1 in which the first vane is pivoted along its entire width to the wing, the second vane is pivoted to the first vane along its entire length and the limiting means consists of a plurality of brackets each carrying an adjustable stop.

'7. The device of claim 1 in which the trailing edge of the vane when not in braking position lies along the trailing edge of the wing.

8. The device of claim 1 in which the vane is hinged to the surface of the wing along a line forward of the central longitudinal axis of the wing.

9. The device of claim 1 in which the vane is hinged to the under surface of the wing along a line forward of the center and the trailing edge of the vane is adapted to lie along the trailing edgeof the wing.

10. In a device of the character described, the combination with an airplane wing of a vane hinged at its forward edge to a surface of said wing on a line forward of the trailing edge of the wing and adapted to lie against said surface, a second vane hinged to the free edge of the first mentioned vane, and means for moving one or both of said vanes into baffle position.

11. The device of claim 10 in which means are provided at one of said hinged edges for limiting the angular movement of the adjacent vane about its hinge.

12. The device of claim 10 in which the trailing edge of the second vane lies adjacent the trailing edge of the wing.

LEWIS J. 'I'E'I'LOW. 

